Observations about and lessons learned from living life with Labrador retrievers

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Rainy (Snowy?) Days and Tuesdays... Puppy Version!

What weather (whine)!

Nope, couldn't get the pups outside yesterday. It never got out of the 40s and it started to drizzle mid-afternoon. Bummers. That's means they've only been out once (this past Sunday).

And they won't be going outside again today (it's been about two hours since I shot this morning's first picture of snow, and it's still doing the wet-snow-mixed-with-rain-thing out there as I write this). It's a whopping 33 degrees. According to the Weather Guys, it won't be nice enough to get the pups outside until Friday or Saturday.

Okay, so you hearty souls who live in the north-lands are thinking I'm a wuss. But you expect snow this time of year. We, who live in four-moderate-seasons-per-year-Pennsylvania never expect snow quite this soon.

And it makes fall puppy-rearing a little more challenging for wee folks like us. We're just a tiny one-to-two-litters-per-year outfit, house-raising our pups, so that means we don't have gigunda outdoor heated barns or kennels. We don't even have a heated garage (we don't even have a garage period, let alone a heated one!).

I'm not really complaining. Not really. It's more like a momentary tantrum. I actually love fall weather. I'm just not a big fan of 24/7 indoor puppy pee and poo. ;o)

Ahhh... but raising puppies is a labor of love, and love requires sacrifice. ;o) It is what it is, and we'll do what we have to do. And we'll even do it cheerfully!

In that vein, here's a sample of what we do with the pups when we're trapped indoors:

1. We'll continue with lots of people socialization. Here's DFS Dan with them last night (the pups love his facial hair...oh boy... something different to groom!):

And here they are with DH Don (again last night):

2. The pups will play and play and play with each other (Misters Blue and Yellow in the following two pictures below):

3. The pups will also play and play and play with their toys (yes, we broke out a few new ones to keep their interest):

Here, Mr. Black and Mr. Lime wrassle the Pull My Leg horse (Ridge disemboweled the Pull My Leg sheep we had before--he snatched it right out of the washing machine before I did the wash!):

Mr. Green gets his turn, too:

Here's Mr. Blue with a soft chew-toy:

4. The pups will observe their surroundings and watch the world go by:

Mr. Lime watches the stuffing-free skunk:

Mr. Green keeps an eye on the other pups (Come on, guys...knock it off...I want to sleep!):

And Miss Pink does the same (This is my bed... don't you even think about it...):

5. The pups will try to keep us in the puppy pen with them (that's Mr. Yellow snagging DH's shoe, with Miss Sky on left and Mr. Blue with his back toward us):

6. Of course we'll nuzzle the pups and walk with the pups and do what we have to do to help them feel loved and secure:

Miss Sky is a snuggle bug (well all the pups are, but she is especially)

Mr. Black loves to be held this way (boy, does this remind me of walking with babies in the night!). It seems to comfort him.

7. The pups, however, also learn to comfort and entertain themselves:

Here's Mr. Black chewing on his own paw:

7. And, of course, they'll sleep (in addition to other necessities of life like eating, peeing, and pooing):

This is Miss Pink on left, Mr. Yellow center, and Miss Sky on right:

Mr. Green and Mr. Black:

Mr. Lime (left) and Mr. Yellow (right):

Mr. White:Mr. Red:And Mr. Blue with Mr. Lime:

I have a romping video or two from this morning, which I'll post in a little while. For now, just know the pups are happy, content, warm, dry, clean, well-fed, well-loved, well-socialized, well-stimulated, well-entertained, and trapped indoors giving Momma Joan cabin fever!

3 comments:

Ahhhh!-the pictures of the pups sleeping. Is that a picture of peace and contentment and security, or what?? I know this has been a HUGE amount of work but I have to admit, I'm having a hard time sympathizing with you being surrounded by all that pure and simple puppy love! Chester's Mom

Hi!! I´m a portuguese fan of your labs! They are amazing!! And the puppies...so cute! I have a Labrador too and he is everything to me! I just want to congratulate you for your blog! Good Luck!(sorry for my english)